If You Needed Me
by ProfessionalAshes0fRoses
Summary: Jeff has a problem that only Nick can fix. When he informs Nick, things get complicated. Can Nick help Jeff without damaging their relationship?
1. Chapter 1

**If You Needed Me**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Glee (if you haven't caught on by now)**

 **A/N: A huge thanks to cuteasklaine07 for being amazing and helping me with some dialogue for this. Also, this story is dedicated to the amazing lendmeyourcomb who's been an amazing friend to me. She also got her wisdom teeth out today, so go send her some love for being brave and letting people cut teeth out of her head.**

"Kurt, I can't. I feel like I'm going to throw up. Please don't make me," Jeff begged.

Kurt let out a sigh. "Honey, you're working yourself up. Just go talk to Nick, he'll understand."

Jeff shook his head. "He's going to be mad I didn't tell him sooner," he insisted.

"No Jeff, he won't. Just go tell him."

Just then, as if on cue, Nick popped his head around the corner. "Is him me? If so, tell me what?" he questioned.

Jeff started to become more panicked now, _what if Kurt just told Nick?_ _Nick couldn't know_. Jeff looked to Kurt pleadingly.

Kurt put his hand on Jeff's shoulder. "Jeff, he's your boyfriend. You can do this. Remember, he loves you and won't be mad," he coaxed before walking out and leaving the two alone.

Nick sat down next to Jeff. "What's wrong honey? You look like you're going to be sick. What's gotten you so worked up? You know I won't be mad."

Jeff looked up at Nick with teary eyes. He would find out eventually. He'd been through this talk a thousand times in his head, it was just Nick. He could do this. "Nick," Jeff started. "I have to tell you something. I promise it's not bad, I didn't cheat or anything. I'm just making it worse than it is."

Nick nodded, looking at Jeff with concern.

"Oh gosh," Jeff said, he was shaking. Nick wrapped his arms around his boyfriend to help calm him down. "Okay. I can't say the word, I don't like the word. I just... Uh... Nick. What you do, what you're training to do in better words," Jeff paused. He took a deep breath. "It scares me, like really scares me. I don't like talking about this so bear with me. Recently I've had a problem that's causing me pain, and I know I need to tell someone, probably you because you're my boyfriend and I trust you. I just don't want you to be mad or angry. I don't want to be in pain anymore, but the idea of getting it fixed puts me in a bad place."

Nick tightened his hold on Jeff's waist. "I'm not mad Jeffy, I'm glad you came to me. I won't make you do anything, we're just talking. I know you don't like to talk about it but I need more information," Nick started. "Why are you so scared? You're trembling right now, why is that?"

Jeff took in a deep breath, cuddling in closer to Nick for comfort. "Because I'm embarrassed. On top of having this phobia I'm really insecure about my smile. That makes everything so much worse. You're my boyfriend, and that part of me is ugly. I don't want you to see; but at the same time I need you to help."

"Awe, Jeff. It's not like that. You don't need to be embarrassed. I've noticed to a certain extent, but I didn't say anything because I wanted you to approach me with this. I'm glad you did. I can help you if you let me. You don't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with, but it would help if I could see what's going on. I know you feel like that's the worse part, but it's information I really need to know."

Jeff shifted when Nick mentioned that he needed to look.

Nick glanced at Jeff and started to speak again. "If you're going to let me eventually fix it, then you'll have to get used to me looking in your mouth. This will be good practice for you; we're taking it slow. It'll be really easy. It's just like we're playing doctor. Is that okay?"

Jeff looked at Nick incredulously. "Don't ever use the term 'playing doctor' because 'playing' makes me think of, you know. However, 'doctor', not so much. So can you not?" Jeff said through a nervous laugh.

Nick smiled a little. "Okay, would you rather me speak clinically? The patient seems to be experiencing some discomfort, I feel that a thorough examination will be needed to properly assess the situation."

Jeff shook his head. "Don't do that," he warned seriously.

Nick gave Jeff a questioning look. "Honey, would you let me look? Please? I just want to peak at what's going on in there so I'll have an idea of what we're dealing with," he pressed.

Jeff got tense again and his face burned red at the request. He knew this would happen inevitably, but he felt it was happening too fast. "Nick," Jeff started.

Nick frowned a little. "Don't 'Nick' me like I'm doing something wrong. I want to help, Jeff. I know you're scared, and I can work with that. I just need to know you're willing. You came to me for help and that's what I'm trying to do."

Jeff thought for a second, took in a deep breath, and nodded.

"Okay then. Where is it hurting? In what area?" Nick questioned.

"On the bottom right side in the back," Jeff responded with a fearful undertone.

Nick nodded. "Okay." He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and flipped on the light. "Okay Jeff, put your head in my lap and let me see."

Jeff slowly moved his head to where it was laying in Nick's lap. Nick was holding the light right above his mouth. He felt his chest tighten, was he actually doing this? He felt himself start to panic and he pushed himself out of Nick's lap.

Nick frowned and gently pushed Jeff back down. He could tell that was making it worse though. "Baby, I won't make you. Please just tell me why you're panicking, help me understand. I'm just taking a look, that isn't scary. Talk to me."

Jeff shook his head and was starting to cry. "What if it's really bad? I just don't want you to get angry, Nick. When you see you're going to make me get it fixed."

Nick smiled a little. "Of course, silly. That's the only way to get you out of pain, you know. I won't get mad, I just want to help. Trust me, I know what I'm doing." He leaned over and pecked Jeff on the lips. "Now open up so I can see what we are dealing with, and then help you. It won't hurt and I won't get mad. I'll be happy you let me look, okay?" He wiped Jeff's tears away. "I love you, don't be afraid of me."

Jeff shook his head. "My teeth are ugly though. You're going to laugh at me," he protested.

Now Nick was the one who shook his head. "No, they aren't ugly. I won't laugh, I love you. Your smile is beautiful it its own little way. Please, Jeff. Let me look."

Jeff gulped. "Okay... I trust you. Just don't think I'm gross."

"You aren't gross, I promise. If anything you're adorable. Now please, open up."

Jeff kept his eyes open, but let his mouth fall open uneasily. "Wider please. I can't see anything," Nick coaxed, taking Jeff's chin in his hand. Jeff still seemed unsure, so Nick pressed down on his lower jaw so Jeff's mouth fell open wider. Jeff let out a small whine.

"It's okay, baby. I've got you. Just relax. Try closing your eyes," Nick said gently. Jeff did as told and closed his eyes. Nick then turned his attention to the right bottom area in the back of Jeff's mouth. He took note of a tooth that seemed to have a cavity in it, and it was rather deep.

"Okay Jeff. You can close," Nick said gently, letting go of Jeff's chin. "That was great. You did really well and I'm proud of you. It doesn't look that bad, I don't want you to worry."

Jeff shut his mouth and looked at Nick questioningly. "Are you sure it's not bad?"

Nick shook his head. Even though it did look extensive, he knew telling Jeff wouldn't do any good. "I said not to worry. You did good, and that was the first step. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Just relax now," Nick whispered. He started rubbing Jeff's shoulders and head gently, trying to get him to relax. Jeff naturally melted into Nick's touch with an adorable moan. Nick smiled a self satisfied smile.

"Here Jeffy, sit up and sit in my lap. I can get to your shoulders easier that way." Jeff obeyed and let Nick rub him. Nick slowly unbuttoned Jeff's shirt and the massage got more intense. Jeff letting out quiet, yet pleased, moans. While Jeff was in a good mood Nick opted to bring up the discussion about his teeth again. Nick spoke as he rubbed Jeff's scalp soothingly. "Tomorrow you're going to get up with me and come to school. You're going to be a good boy and let me clean your teeth and fix the tooth that's hurting you. No arguments," Nick whispered into Jeff's ear.

Jeff grew noticeably more tense at Nick's statement, but he wasn't going to protest with Nick's amazing hands bringing him all this pleasure.

"I don't want you to worry. For the work I'll give you some gas to help you feel calm. I might even give you a little extra so it will feel really nice. You have to be good for the cleaning though, okay? That part you're going to be sober for, but I know you'll be able to do that. It won't hurt you, and it will be good practice. That way you'll have positive memories. I'll make this as comfortable as possible for you and I won't let you feel any pain," Nick went on, using a slight seductive whisper to put Jeff in a good mood. "Okay?" he whispered into Jeff's ear.

"Okay," Jeff said softly.

"Good," Nick said gently, pecking Jeff on the lips and rubbing him more.

The next morning Nick was sure to get up early and make coffee. He even took to making Jeff's favorite breakfast and putting it in the microwave. Jeff never ate first thing in the morning. He put a pain reliever on the side table along with the coffee. He gently shook Jeff awake. "Jeffy, I made coffee. I'm going to start the shower now and make sure it's warm. I want you to come crawl in the shower with me when you feel awake enough so we can start the morning together. Breakfast is in the microwave for when you feel hungry. Wake up and greet the morning with me," Nick said gently. He followed through with his actions and soon Jeff crawled in the shower with him. The morning was rather easy going and romantic.

Jeff knew what would be happening today, but couldn't bring himself to feel stressed out with Nick being so sweet. A little while later he sat at the table and nibbled on the breakfast Nick made for him. More time passed and soon he found himself in the doorway of Nick's school. The calm feeling gone as he realized that this really was happening. Jeff dug his feet into the pavement and refused to move. He was crying and trembling terribly.

Nick rubbed his shoulders soothingly. "Shhh, don't cry. I know you can do this. You're brave and strong. This isn't hard, just please trust your boyfriend."

Jeff still continued to cry sadly. "But I'm scared. I don't want to be under anyone's scrutiny, especially yours. You will be so grossed out, Nick, please," he went on.

"No baby, I told you. I'll clean things up for you so everything is nice and clean and then I'll look around to see what's going on. I'll fix it today but I'll give you some gas for that. You won't care, if anything the gas could be fun."

Jeff still didn't like the idea of any of this, and was overall really stressed out. He felt like he might actually pass out, but he ended up giving into Nick's pleads. "Okay," Jeff whispered. Only agreeing because he didn't have the energy to fight Nick, at least not at the moment.

"Good. See? I won't make you do anything, but you know this has to happen. It won't be bad, you're in good hands," Nick coaxed, taking Jeff gently by the shoulders and pushing him into the building while he was being compliant.

Jeff walked into the building with a terrified expression written all over his face. He looked incredibly stressed out and was only moving because Nick was pushing him. He wasn't sure what Nick was doing, he only saw him grab some papers and explain something to someone who looked like a receptionist, and they went into the directed room. Everything felt unreal, like this wasn't happening. It was though, and that realization made Jeff feel sick.

Nick pushed Jeff into a room and gently lead him to the chair. Jeff froze before Nick was able to push him down into the dreaded seat.

"Jeff, it's okay. First I'm just doing x-rays and then an oral cancer screening. That's all easy, okay? Can you do that?" Nick asked gently. "I'm not even leaning the chair back yet," he coaxed.

Jeff sighed, but sat down anyway. He still didn't like this, and ended up letting out an angry huff when Nick placed a heavy apron over him.

"Oh hush, this is one of the easiest parts." He put on gloves and picked a bitewing off of the tray that he grabbed a few minutes prior. "Open up Jeffy, I need to put this in between your back teeth. It goes all the way in the back where your bad tooth is, so just bite down gently," Nick directed.

Jeff opened his mouth and let Nick place in the bitewing. "Okay, bite down gently," Nick explained.

Jeff tried to, but it hurt. He let out a whimper and shook his head. "It hurtsh," he whined, not closing down anymore.

"I know honey, but I need to get this information. Please, bite down for a second. Be still and don't move," he coaxed, adjusting the x-ray machine.

Jeff looked sadly back to Nick, but bit down anyway with a pained expression.

"Great job, just stay still and you won't have to do this again," Nick said before quickly taking the x-ray and coming back in the room. "Great job, Jeff. Let's do that one more time. On the other side it won't hurt," he explained before repeating the process one last time with Jeff only being mildly stubborn.

Jeff dramatically took the bitewing out of his mouth the second Nick told him he was done with a look of disgust written on his face.

Nick laughed a little and took the bitewing from Jeff, and pecked him on the lips lovingly. "You're still alive, so it couldn't have been that terrible," Nick cooed. "Okay, next is the oral cancer screening. This is really easy. I'm going to do that by feeling around on your neck, can you deal with that?" he explained as he took off the heavy apron and switched it out for a thin paper one.

Jeff nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to lean you back now. Don't panic, I'm just going to touch around on your face," Nick warned before he started to recline Jeff's chair.

Jeff visibly tensed up, but didn't say anything.

Once he was adjusted, Nick started to feel around on his face. "I'm just feeling around for any abnormalities," Nick explained. He felt around for a little bit, and seemed to be satisfied with everything. "Okay Jeff, open and close your mouth, please... Again... Good. Okay, now here comes that part where you have to open your mouth. I need to check your tongue among other things. I'm not looking at your teeth yet, so you can relax."

Jeff looked to Nick questioningly. He didn't like the idea of having to open his mouth.

Nick moved the mask to cover his face. He flipped on the light and moved it over Jeff's mouth, then picked up the mirror. "Okay Jeff, open your mouth for me."

Jeff opened his mouth. This wasn't the part that bothered him.

"Okay, everything looks good. I see no sighs of oral cancer. Normal, normal, normal. Okay, now I'm going to touch your face some more." Nick did a few other things that didn't really bother Jeff, and finally finished up. He pecked him on the lips, pulling down his mask temporarily. "You did great, hun. No oral cancer for you. Now we can move onto the fun stuff," he said, pulling his mask back up.

"Oh yeah, fun. Fun meaning now you stick sharp things in my face?"

He put on a mask and his loupes with a chuckle. "Okay Jeffy, are you ready to start? You have nothing to worry about, I won't hurt you. I'll be using a explorer, but I won't poke at anything to cause you pain. It's mostly to look at the areas I'm not sure about. The x-rays will tell the full story, but I want to get a visual idea first. Don't be embarrassed, okay? Open honey."

Jeff felt his cheeks burn red. This time he knew Nick would be looking at his teeth, and that made him feel uncomfortable. "You swear you won't get grossed out?"

"Jeff, honestly. You are a cocky little shit if you think you have the worse mouth I've ever seen. You can't gross me out. Your mouth isn't that bad. Now open up."

Jeff sighed, "Okay."

When he opened his mouth, Nick started looking around, starting at number two. He started making mental notes, knowing he would have to chart all of this later. He noticed Jeff watching him uneasily and sighed. "Jeff, I won't hurt you. Just close your eyes and relax."

Jeff let out a small huff, but shut his eyes.

Nick went back to the examination. Things weren't nearly as bad as Jeff made it out to be. "I don't know why you're so insecure about your teeth, honey. They're a little bit crowded and there is a little discoloration, but that's all pretty normal. You have a cute smile, Jeffy."

Jeff started to squirm at Nick's words. He didn't like being under his critical observation and it was even worse given that the conversational topic was his teeth.

"Relax. I'm sorry, I know you're uncomfortable. Don't think about it and try to stay still," he soothed.

Nick went on and saw a few other problems, but nothing too bad. Though, when he got to number 31 he did notice that one looked bad. There was a considerably sized cavity on the distal surface of the tooth. It looked like it was deep and he was almost positive this wouldn't be an 'easy' fix like Jeff was hoping for.

"Okay Jeff, nothing looks too bad. Let me check a few other things. I'm going to check your existing fillings really quick. I'm just going to see how resistant they are, let me know if you feel any pain. This shouldn't hurt though. Just stay relaxed." He took to taking the explorer and gently scratching at a few fillings, and most of them seemed to be in good shape. Though, one on number 18 didn't look like it was in very good shape. It clearly needed to be replaced. When he scratched at it the filling appeared to be clearly unstable. It was fractured.

Jeff felt Nick scraping at a few of his teeth, and if made him feel really uncomfortable, but he just squeezed his eyes shut and tried to forget about it. Though his eyes shot open when he felt Nick messing around with a tooth that was sensitive. "Ack, kawk," Jeff tried to say. He was trying to say 'ouch, stop' bit it wasn't coming out right.

Nick quickly retracted his tools. "I'm sorry, honey. I'll stop. I won't mess with that one. I didn't know it was sensitive."

Jeff frowned. "It wasn't until you messed with it," he argued.

"Jeff, that filling is fractured. Are you sure you didn't feel any discomfort leading up to now? That looks like it would have been painful to chew on."

Jeff averted his eyes from Nick's now, clearly caught in a lie. "I didn't think it was a big deal. I also didn't think you would notice..."

"Hun, that's silly. I'm not mad, just know that there is no point in lying to me. I'll find the problem regardless. Besides, why would you want to leave something that was causing you discomfort? Again, I'm not mad. Just please be honest. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about?"

Jeff looked down at his hands. "A tooth second from the back on the left side kinda hurts sometimes..." he admitted.

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I saw how that one could cause you pain. Thanks for being honest. Do you think you can open back up so I can finish up? I only have one more section to do."

Jeff nodded and open his mouth back up.

Nick finished the exam, making mental notes to himself. When he was done he retracted his tools and allowed Jeff a few seconds to breath.

"Yeah, I'll skip the gum mapping. You floss really well, and I'm not even seeing any bleeding. Your gums are healthy and pink. So, okay, do you want to know what's going on?" Jeff nodded reluctantly. "Okay, so I see a filling that needs to be replaced, a few small cavities, the one bigger cavity. That's it. It's really not that bad."

"How many cavities?" Jeff asked, unsure of if he wanted to know or not.

"Only three. That's four teeth that need to be fixed, which really isn't bad at all. That can all be done in a sitting, maybe two depending on how fast we do this... Let me take a peak at the x-rays." He scooted away and pulled up the x-rays. When he took a closer look at number 31, his heart ached for his poor boyfriend. He wouldn't take this well. That cavity was extensive. _No way I'm telling Jeff about this. He'll just freak out even more than he already is, and it's not like he'll know the difference. Telling him this will cause us both unnecessary stress. It will be better if I just keep this to myself._

Jeff nodded at Nick's words, that didn't sound too terrible. He could deal with that. He honestly thought it was worse. "But what about the weird colored area here?" he asked, pointing to an area but not opening his mouth, basically pointing to his cheek.

Nick looked up from the x-rays. "Hum? Oh no that's just a little discoloration, nothing to worry about. I'll clean that off for you." He clapped his hands together. "Good news, everything will be an easy fix. We can do this today."

Jeff felt his chest tighten at Nick's words. He wasn't ready to start yet.

Nick noticed Jeff's clear distress. "Don't worry, now we are just doing a cleaning. Besides, I'll get you some gas for the other work. You'll be too high to care. Just trust me for now, okay? I'll get all the nasty stuff off of your teeth so they look shiny and clean. No more weird discoloration. Sound good?"

"No, that doesn't sound good... But I guess I can deal with it," Jeff mumbled.

Nick smiled. "Of course you can, you're my brave little Gryffindor."

Jeff looked at Nick with a serious expression. "Today has had me rethinking my house. I'm pretty sure I'm a Hufflepuff now. I'm not brave."

"Nonsense, you're still a Gryffindor. You're here and facing your fears, that makes you brave. The thing is, bravery is a choice. Like right now, you're choosing to sit here and trust me even though you're scared. Of course you're a Gryffindor." He leaned over and pecked Jeff on the lips.

Jeff smiled at Nick. "You're right, I can do this. I'll be okay."

"I know you can," Nick agreed. He picked up the ultrasonic scaler. "So first I'm going to use this to get the hard nasty stuff off of your teeth, and this gets it off better than my hand scaler. Sound good?"

Jeff nodded, opening his mouth without being asked.

"I'm so proud of you, honey. You've already come so far," Nick praised. He then started to clean Jeff's teeth.

Jeff thought this would be really easy, but it didn't feel nice. His teeth felt so sensitive and the cold water felt uncomfortable. He raised his hand to get Nick to stop.

Nick stopped when Jeff raised his hand. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Jeff had tears in his eyes and Nick was concerned.

"It's just that i-it hurts. It feels too cold."

Nick nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry. I should have warned you. I can use topical to help with that. That will make it where you can't really feel it, okay? It will help." He got the topical and brought it over. "Just breath honey, I'll make this comfortable for you. Let me show you, this will help a lot."

Jeff shook his head, not wanting to do it again. He was freaking out right now.

"Shhh, no. It's okay, this will help," Nick said, rubbing Jeff's shoulders soothingly. "Calm down, honey. I know you're stressed out, just breath. I won't allow you to feel any pain."

After a while, Jeff agreed to let Nick try again. The topical helped a lot and made the cleaning way more comfortable. Though, when Nick got to the hand scaling Jeff crinkled his nose dramatically at the scraping sound.

"Oh, you're okay. It's not hurting you. That's the sound of your teeth getting cleaner," Nick teased. Jeff, who was feeling less tense now, smiled a little at Nick. "Yeah, I see you smiling at me, cutie. Stop being so cute."

The rest of the cleaning went without a hitch. Jeff didn't even mind the sound of the polisher.

"My teeth feel so clean!" Jeff exclaimed happily.

Nick smiled at his adorable boyfriend. "Well I'm glad you like it. They look a lot cleaner too. You did so well, I'm really proud of you, honey." He paused to type something out and quickly paged his professor.

"Now, we just need to fix up the main problem here. The only thing is, I need to get permission to fix your tooth... My professor has to come in and agree with my diagnoses. Meaning, he'll need to see..."

Jeff shook his head quickly. "I didn't agree to this. What do you mean? I have to deal with someone else messing around in my mouth?" Jeff squeaked.

Nick sighed. "I have to have my professor assess the situation before I can proceed. Jeff, I'm still a student. He just has to look around before I can fix your tooth. It will take a few minutes and then we can get started."

Jeff shook his head. "But I'm not even okay with you looking around yet, more less someone I don't even know. Nick, I don't even know this guy! I'm not okay with this. I didn't agree to this. Please, I can't."

Right on cue, there was a firm knock at the door.

Jeff was silently freaking out now and looking at Nick with an expression that showed nothing but terror.

"Professor, hi. Please, come in," Nick called softly.

"Hello boys, Nick did you need me to check over your diagnosis before getting started?" Hunter greeted as he walked in.

"Yes professor Clarington, that'd be great."

Jeff looked to Nick with pleading eyes. "Nick, I'm not ready for this. I don't know him," he fretted with tear filled eyes.

"Hey now, let's not get worked up over something before we've even started. My name is Hunter, and you must be Jeff," Hunter spoke, trying to calm down the frightened patient and make him feel more comfortable.

"Nick, I hardly trust you yet. I don't want this guy messing around in my mouth. I'm not ready. Everything is still all messed up. You know how I feel about this," Jeff said, ignoring the greeting. He knew he was being rude, but he knew what Hunter wanted to do and that put a sour taste in his mouth.

"Jeff, this again? Nobody is judging you. You're here to get this fixed, we fix teeth. Nobody is expecting things to be perfect, and that's okay that they aren't," Nick tried to reassure.

"Jeff, really we're not here to make you feel bad, we're here to help. Do you mind if I take a quick look at Nick's diagnosis?" Hunter asked patiently. He washed his hands and threw on gloves. "I mean obviously we can't make you, but if you want to live with your problem then that's your decision."

"Jeff, it will be quick. Please just let him look so I can get you out of pain."

"Nick," Jeff whined.

"You will be in pain forever if you don't let him look. I have to get approval. If I don't get approval then your pretty little face will never get fixed."

Jeff huddled in on himself, but nodded fractionally in agreement.

Hunter scooted closer. "You won't regret this Jeff, well I'm sure you already regret this, but you'll stop regretting it when you're out of pain, am I right? Anyway, let me take a quick look so I can allow Nick to do his thing."

Jeff looked to Nick fearfully. Nick took his hand and kissed it. "It'll just take a second," he reminded. Nick was able to coax Jeff into laying back down flat in the chair. From there Hunter took Nick's place, readjusting the light and moving the chair up a bit so he had better access. He moved the mask over his face and picked up the tools he needed.

"Okay honey, just open your mouth really quick and keep it open long enough for him to look," Nick coaxed, holding Jeff's hand tightly.

Jeff looked over to Nick and shook his head fearfully, not wanting to open his mouth for this stranger. "Nick, I'm not ready. This is too much."

"Yes you are. Don't think about it, just close your eyes and let your mouth fall open. I'm right here and nothing is going to hurt you, and nobody will laugh at you. Please, don't think about it. Just open," he coaxed, rubbing circles on the back of Jeff's hand.

Jeff shut his eyes tightly and took a few more seconds to regain himself, but obeyed and opened his mouth. He just couldn't let himself think about this or he wouldn't be able to do it.

"Great job Jeff. I'll just take a look, and as long as you don't punch me in the face, I say you're doing fantastic," Hunter praised comically.

Jeff laughed a little despite his situation.

"Do you see what I'm talking about professor? I think the needed procedure is clear. I have x-rays if you need further evidence. The tooth in question is number 31. It can be saved from what I've seen on the x-rays." Jeff was getting squirmy at this point, but Hunter seemed to be able to work with it.

Hunter took a look at the tooth and nodded, then retracted his tools. "Yes Nick, I can see that. I agree with your diagnosis. Have you informed Jeff yet or shall we discuss it now?"

Nick bit his lip awkwardly and shook his head. "Are you sure it's necessary to give him all of the information? I could hardly get him to agree to come in."

"Just as sure as I am that I will be forced to throw you out of my clinic if you don't keep your patient informed. Mr. Duval, is that understood?"

Nick felt his cheeks burn red at the reprimand. He was one of the lucky students that had avoided getting scolded by Hunter, at least up until now. _So much for being a perfect student._ Nobody could escape Hunter's wrath. Though he nodded in understanding, he was kind of asking for that one. "Yes sir, I understand. I will fully inform the patient about the procedure," he spoke in defeat.

Nick then looked to Jeff with an apologetic expression. "Jeff honey, don't freak out. You need a root canal if you want to keep your tooth. It's not bad, and sounds way worse than it is."

Jeff was clearly about to protest.

Hunter stood up and started to walk out before the argument could go down. "I'll leave you two to the argument now," he cut in. "Mr. Duval, you're cleared to do the procedure. I'll be back to check in later. You're a 4th year, so I trust that you know what you're doing. Page me before you seal everything up. Have fun you two."

As soon as Hunter left, Nick grimaced. He knew an argument was about to go down. Nick couldn't tell if Jeff was about to scream or burst into tears. "Jeff," he started. "I know you–"

"Easy fix my ass! You lied to me! A fucking root canal isn't an easy fix," Jeff yelled with tears pouring down his face.

"No, Jeff. Please, don't be upset. A root canal is easy. I can save the tooth, good as new, it's easy."

"No, I'm not doing this. I can't trust you anymore! You asshole. I'm not letting you do this. I'll go to someone who won't lie to me. Someone who knows how to treat me."

Nick's jaw dropped. "Jeff, I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react like this. I won't hurt you. I thought I was doing the right thing," he whispered.

Jeff shook his head, tears falling down his red face. "No, you didn't." He stood up and was about to walk out. He was sobbing and could hardly breath. Nick had never seen him so upset.

Nick ran over to Jeff and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Please don't leave," he begged. "I love you. I love you so much. I'm sorry I lied, I thought I was doing the right thing. Now I know I wasn't. I just want the best for you."

Jeff's anger melted away at Nick's words. He was still crying. "I'm sorry. I love you too, so much. Gosh, I'm a asshole. You were only trying to help..."

"Yeah, well you're my asshole."

 **A/N: Don't panic, I have more coming.**


	2. Chapter 2

**If You Needed Me**

 **A/N: So I'm going to rant a little before I get started because I'm the worst kind of person. I really enjoy writing, it's incredible to create a whole other world with my words. It's even better to share it with people who enjoy reading it. With that being said, I'm grateful for all of the positive feedback. I don't want anyone to think I'm not. It just sucks when I work really hard on something and I don't really get any feedback. I love hearing what you guys think, it makes me smile. I just feel like if I put my time and best effort into a story, hearing what you guys think about it is a fair trade. I worked on the last chapter for months until I posted it to get it just right, and almost didn't post it because I didn't feel it was worth it. I appreciate those of you who do tell me what you think, it means a lot. I just know that if I read something and really enjoy it then I leave a review with everything I thought. I want the author to know exactly what I thought, because it's a good feeling. Even if it's bad, tell me what I can do to be a better writer. So when you're reading this, please think of that. Whenever you have a thought about the story, please tell me. Did it make you cringe? Did you 'awwwe'? I want to know. I'm not trying to be 'that guy' who begs for reviews; but I guess I am. Okay, on with the story. Enjoy :)**

 **Disclaimer: me no own glee.**

It took a whiletoget Jeff to the point where he was relatively calm. Once Nick wasn't concerned that his lover was going to faint from rapid breathing patterns, he took a breath for himself and ran a hand through his hair. This entire situation was extremely overwhelming for the both of them, and part of Nick wasn't sure if he was going to be able to handle this. Jeff was by far the most difficult patient he'd ever had, and wasn't making this easy. The breakdown he had earlier had Nick concerned for his boyfriend's sanity. It went from screaming, to sobbing, to more screaming. He wanted this to be a positive experience for Jeff, and he knew that the whole ordeal was putting him through unnecessary stress. It was time to bring gas into the situation before anything could get more heated. He looked over to his boyfriend, who looked truly broken. This was obviously tearing him up, and Nick didn't want that. This was supposed to be easy, but Jeff's phobia wasn't allowing that.

He cleared his throat to break the silence. "Jeff, honey. I think it's about time to bring nitrous into this. It will help you calm down, and make this way easier for the both of us."

Jeff looked up from the ball he curled himself into with red rimmed eyes. He nodded his head gently and looked back down.

Nick's heart was practically in his boyfriend's grip, and that pitiful look alone felt like a violent squeeze. He frowned, knowing this was his fault. He had to remind himself it was for Jeff's own good.

"Okay, you stay here. I'll be right back. I promise you'll feel so much better once you have it in your system." He walked over to Jeff and pulled his face into his hands. He planted a kiss on his lips. "I'm going to get you through this. Just allow your mind to slow down and relax. You're overthinking how simple this will be. You've got me to help you through it. I love you." He let go with a gentle smile.

Jeff gave Nick a half smile that almost looked sad. "I love you too," he whispered.

With that, Nick left the room to go clear this over with his professor. He felt stupid for not asking while he was in there before, but he was too focused on other things.

Jeff stared numbly at his feet. Once the argument defused between the two, he felt guilty. Guilty for acting the way he did, for stressing out Nick, and for letting this happen in the first place. It was engulfing him in the most unhealthy of ways. It wasn't that he couldn't feel anything, it was that he felt it all too well. Fear, of course he was fearful. This was his worst nightmare; and he wasn't sure what to expect. The rational part of him, the part that was a logical adult, was trying to calm down. Though, there was still that scared little boy in himself that couldn't help but panic. It wasn't that there was a real reason, it was irrational. It didn't make sense, this fear didn't. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. _It's time to grow up._ After getting so upset earlier his tooth started to throb painfully again. It usually wasn't that bad, but being upset made it so much worse. It was a reminder of how much he wanted this over.

A few minutes later Nick walked back in with Hunter. He had an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry hun, he has to watch me set everything up. Once it's in your system you won't care. This will make it easier, okay?"

Jeff just nodded again, his pitiful eyes piercing through Nick's heart. "Jeffy, you act like I'm killing you. This isn't a death sentence you know," Nick said lightheartedly.

Jeff laughed a little. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make this hard for you. I'm just stressed out and scared, I can't help it."

"I know, baby. Just lean back and relax. You'll feel better really soon," Nick whispered. He leaned back his scared looking boyfriend and put the mask over his nose. "Okay, just breath normally. It's just oxygen right now. Does it feel okay? Do you feel like you aren't getting enough air or like you're getting too much?"

"I feel like I'm not getting enough air," Jeff answered.

"Okay," Nick said softly. He adjusted the gas as needed. "Better?" he questioned.

Jeff nodded his head.

Hunter stood over the two, observing what Nick was doing. Clearly Nick wasn't doing anything wrong or he would have said something. This was Nick's patient, he was only there to make sure Nick didn't mess anything up.

"Okay Jeff, I'm starting the nitrous. You might feel a little odd. I need you to not talk so you don't release any nitrous into the air."

Jeff obeyed, and it wasn't long before he was feeling the affects of the medicine. He felt warm all over and he could feel his fear melting away. He visibly relaxed.

Nick was happy to see Jeff finally calm down. He wasn't feeling the full affects yet but it was enough for him to feel better. Nick got the things he needed and Hunter left the room. He got the syringe of septicaine he would be using along with some topical.

"Open up, baby. This is just gel," Nick coaxed. Jeff opened his mouth and let Nick place in the q-tip. That took affect soon and Nick picked up the syringe. "Open again, please. I won't hurt you," he asked sweetly. Once Jeff did he gave him the first injection. The next one would need a little prior warning. "Okay, one more. This one might sting a little but it will go away." Jeff opened again. Nick gave Jeff the pallet injection, making sure to go slow so it didn't sting. Jeff seemed pretty okay as the nitrous was doing its job. "All done. You did great, honey. You can relax now."

Jeff wasn't alarmed while Nick was working at all. He was too focused on trying to breath, he couldn't think about what Nick was doing.

Nick got everything ready for the procedure. His boyfriend looked out of it. He thought it was adorable how Jeff's eyes were wondering around the room like he didn't understand where he was and what was happening. He pulled up his stool next to Jeff.

"How do you feel, baby?" he asked.

Jeff looked to Nick with dazed eyes. "Fuzzy," he replied.

Nick grinned. "Like a kitten fuzzy or like warm fuzzy?"

"Both. I'm a warm fuzzy kitten."

Nick nodded. "Okay kitten, do you feel nice and calm now? Better than before?"

Jeff nodded. After a few moments of silence he spoke up. "How many cats do you think it would take to fill up the entire world?" Nick didn't get a chance to answer because Jeff cut himself off. "It's gotta be at least eleven," he added confidently.

"I mean, you aren't wrong." Nick grinned cutely at Jeff. He tried to grin back, but his face wouldn't let him. "Something tells me the medicine is working. Do you mind if I check?"

"Just don't hurt me," Jeff whispered.

"Awe, Jeffy. I would never in a million years hurt you. This won't hurt. I just want to see if the medicine made sure you'll feel nothing while I work."

Jeff, being convinced enough, opened his mouth. Nick picked up the explorer and tapped on the tooth gently. He checked Jeff's eyes for any sign of pain and he saw none. He scratched a little harder, making sure Jeff was totally numb. Though, that would have hurt if he could feel it.

"Jeffy, you don't feel that, do you?" he confirmed with Jeff. Jeff shook his head. "Okay then. I'm going to put a special blanket over your tooth now. It will help make sure the tooth I'm working on stays super clean. Is that okay?"

When Jeff agreed Nick got to work. His boyfriend was already dozing off. He knew this would be easy.

However, in Jeff's head there were some pretty interesting thoughts going on. His mind wondered as Nick prepared everything and at one point Jeff couldn't help but wonder who was screaming. He had to think really hard about what that sound could be, and why someone would be screaming, but it was just suction he later realized. After dozing off again he woke to other loud sounds he didn't really care about. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up to the light. His drunken mind noted that it resembled an elephant. After that he dozed off again.

Nick started on the root canal. It took quite a bit of time, not only because of Hunter having to check in so much, but also because root canals in general were pretty time consuming. From there he moved onto the fillings. He replaced the bad filling on number 18, having to use a little inlay, but overall he was happy with the finished result. Doing this after numbing Jeff in the directed areas of course. He finished up with the two other small fillings. Once everything was perfect, he turned off the NO2 and took the mask off of Jeff.

"Hey baby, you're all finished," he cooed gently to his tired boyfriend.

"Why does Taylor Swift have a room filled with cats at her house?" Jeff mumbled.

Nick cocked a brow at the question. "I think you're still kind of loopy. I'm going to sit you up. Don't go back to sleep," he directed. He then started cleaning up while Jeff sobered up.

"Sometimes in life, like, you're partying and you end up in a shower with 14 other people and you're the only one with a hoodie on and you're like... This is awkward," Jeff explained to Nick.

Nick looked at Jeff with a questioning look. "What?"

"I can't fit a giraffe in an elevator."

Nick wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just kept cleaning up the room and ignored his boyfriend that currently wasn't making very much sense.

"I'm a furless bat."

"No you aren't, honey. You're a Jeff."

"Deflect some of that... wind... to sauce and sauce..."

"Hum?"

"Live in a bag."

"I think you're mumbling, dear."

"You get the big picture," Jeff mumbled.

"I'm more involved with teeth, but in my professional opinion, I think you might have sucked up way too much of that gas, dear."

 **A/N: That's all I'm going to write for this unless you guys have any more ideas for me. I swear my next update will be Not Just Another Patient, but I can't promise it'll be soon. Also, if you'e confused by the last scene, Jeff is mumbling and what I wrote he is saying is what Nick thought he was saying. There also might be some... A lot... Of references to a certain TV show in this chapter. Alsoooooo, I'm only reading through thips once. If there are any spelling or grammar errors, kindly ignore them. You know, you get the big picture ;D**


	3. Chapter 3

**If You Needed Me**

 **A/N: You can thank Sora for this lovely prompt. I put a little twist on it, I hope you don't mind. Also, a huge thanks to my amazing Hunter, cuteasklaine0216. She wrote the Hunter dialog and her brain pretty much came up with anything interesting that you read in this chapter. So yeah, I hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

It was nearly midnight and Nick was just getting ready for bed. He'd gotten home at 8:00PM, and between the workload and the workout at the guy, he was utterly exhausted. As soon as he got home he fell asleep on the sofa. He'd just woken up and was currently trying to stumble his way into the bathroom to do his usual nightly routine as being exhausted wasn't an excuse to skip it. He tiredly pulled some floss out of the container and wrapped it around his middle fingers, then directing it to the appointed area with his index fingers. It was lazy and he wasn't doing it as throughly as he usually would have. When he was done he threw away the floss and nearly fell over a shirt that he didn't notice was on the floor until now. He picked it up and noticed it wasn't his.

"Really Jeff? The hamper isn't that far from here," he spoke out loud to the quite bathroom. Jeff was asleep in their bed if the soft snoring was any indication. "Asshat," he mumbled, throwing the shirt into its designated place.

He walked back over to the sink and started brushing his teeth. He got tired halfway through however and closed his eyes. He found himself brushing his teeth with one hand and holding the sink with the other so he didn't fall over. He greatly desired his comfy bed and his adorable boyfriend right now, and it was hard to stay awake enough to properly clean his teeth. He lazily cleaned to back of his top molars, noting to himself that he was way too tired for this. Then he felt something odd, it was a sharp sting. He pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth quickly, something was wrong. The pain went as quickly as it came, but it was certainly there.

"The hell?" he whispered to himself. That was impossible. Did that actually happen? He quickly finished brushing his teeth and took to inspecting the offending area with his tongue. Nothing felt different. Surely he had made up the pain, nothing felt wrong. He grabbed a sterile pack of tools from the medicine cabinet. Jeff had given him hell for having it there in the first place for emergencies, but Nick won the argument and they stayed there. Though, he always figured that if they were going to be used his boyfriend would have been the recipient. He sighed, pulling open the pack of tools and taking out a mirror. He flipped on the light in the bathroom as the small nightlight wasn't providing enough light for him to see anything. He winced as he eyes tried to adjust to the light. After his eyes didn't feel like they were going to burn out of his head anymore, he stuck the mirror in his mouth. He tried to see the area in question but it was no use no matter how much he switched up the angle. So as a last resort he picked up the explorer and started poking around at the tooth in question. Nothing felt off and he was about to give up and settle on the idea that he made up the pain when the explorer got caught on an area on the distal surface of his tooth. He instantly pulled back.

"Ow, ow, ow. Bad idea. Bad idea," he spoke to himself. He got a sick feeling in his stomach knowing something wasn't right. He held his cheek for a moment, moping at the reality of something being wrong with his face. He then threw the tools in his school bag to sterilize again tomorrow passive aggressively and went to bed, opting to ignore the situation for the night.

It was 3 days later when he found himself sitting in the food court area at school. He felt paranoid that people could have been watching him, even though that was probably stupid. The fact that the room was filled with dental students and professors eating lunch didn't help though. Ever since he'd discovered his little problem he'd ignored it. He knew he should have asked someone to check it out for him, but it had to be something and that scared him. It was embarrassing too, how could he admit that this happened? It was his own damn fault for doing his own cleanings. It was right in the back where he couldn't reach, it made sense really. So he sat there, eating his sandwich trying and not to look nervous. It wasn't even that it hurt to eat, he just knew it was there and that was making him nervous. So he chewed tentatively on the other side of his mouth just in case it hurt.

'You're acting stupid, it doesn't hurt to eat. Someone will notice if you're only eating on one side of your mouth,' he thought to himself. So then he started eating his sub sandwich like he normally would, except he got nervous when it was on the right side and chewed more cautiously and slowly. He then stupidly realized he had a deep in thought face on and that was probably even more suspicions. He frustratedly pulled his phone out of his scrubs pocket and started scrolling through his Instagram feed in attempts to not look tense. He wasn't good at this.

Hunter was sitting a few tables from Nick when he noticed the younger making weird faces. He laughed to himself, wondering what was going on with the kid. He got up and walked over to Nick and sat down at the table he was sitting at. "Something on your mind Mr. Duval?"

Nick snapped his head up at the voice, Hunter, and put his phone down. "Sorry? Oh, me? Pffttt, no. Why do you ask?" he asked awkwardly.

"You're making faces is all, and you've barely touched your food here. It's not that disgusting."

Nick could feel his face heating up at the attention, he needed to get out of this conversation. "No, it's not the food," he started. Shit, that wasn't what he meant to say. "I mean, I just feel a little sick. I'm not hungry. It's probably allergies." That didn't make any sense. He gathered his stuff. "Sorry, not to cut the conversation short but I've gotta go. You know, uh... There's that thing that's due soon," he tried to excuse himself.

"Something you want to tell me Nicolas? You're avoiding my eyes." Hunter stood with his student

"No sir, nothing comes to mind," he spoke as he tried to scurry away. "It was nice talking to you, really, but I have to go now."

"Hold it," Hunter ordered. "Come with me to my office please. Now." Hunter strode with purpose and his student followed glumly behind.

"Sit down Mr. Duval. Now let me be perfectly clear about the curriculum in this university. If a student is found to be plagiarizing or cheating in any way, they will be punished and possibly expelled. Now your behavior and the guilt written on your face make me suspect the worst. Do you wish to come clean?"

Nick felt himself shiver at the authority in Hunter's voice as he directed him into his office. Oh gosh, he was about to get scolded. Hunter probably thought he was on drugs or something. So much for trying to play this off. He sat down as directed and tried to keep calm, he knew if he got worked up that he'd just look even more guilty. When Hunter spoke he tried to keep eye contact and be as respectful as possible, but he found it was hard to not look offend at the accusations that were being thrown his way. "Professor, I would never cheat," he said, trying not to sound incredulous. "I have all of my notes to prove how I study and I know the material like the back of my hand, I'd never cheat. You could test me right here. I'm a good student, honestly. I work hard and study hard and most of the time don't really sleep so I just drink way too much coffee-" he was babbling now, nearly enraged that Hunter thought he could be cheating. He took a deep breath to calm down. "I'm just a little distracted today, you know? Everyone has an off day and I can't be perfect and put together all the time and it's not like I have any patients today anyway so it's not effecting my work. I apologize for my behavior today, I'll get my act together and it won't happen again."

"Alright, alright, I can see you mean it, but Nicholas, you're acting very off today. I'd appreciate if you told me what's wrong."

Nick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Right now he wasn't sure what to say; he didn't want Hunter to assume anything terrible but at the same time the real reason he was freaking out was embarrassing. "I can understand where you're coming from, but I swear it's not anything bad like drugs or cheating or satanic cults. I'm not pregnant either because I'm sure you were wondering about that," he joked, trying to make the situation less tense.

The look he was receiving from Hunter was borderline scolding. He didn't have to say anything for Nick to know that he wasn't pleased with that answer.

"Okay, sorry. I uh... Well the thing is..." he silently urged himself to get the words out before he got another scolding, "oh please don't look at me like that. Your presents in general is very intimidating and you're making it hard to think or get words out."

That seemed to get Hunter to lighten up a bit, his stare got more gentle and he looked like he could have almost laughed at how uncomfortable his student felt under the scrutiny. "I didn't think you were with child Mr. Duval. I've met your boyfriend remember? At any rate there is something wrong and it's okay to tell me."

Nick visibly de-tensed at Hunter's reaction. Hunter just gave off this intimidating vibe that was a little too intimidating at times.

Hunter continued talking as hid student appeared to be putting his brain back together. "Is it the work load? Did something happen with Jeff this week that's bothering you?"

Nick found himself wishing he could just run away, but he was in too deep now and at this point it would have been rude to leave Hunter without an explanation. "I'm so sorry sir, I feel utterly ridiculous for making you concerned in the first place. It's beyond trivial, honestly. It's not Jeff or the workload, it's my stupid tooth." He swallowed hard so he could continue speaking, the embarrassment was consuming him but he kept speaking in attempts to make this less embarrassing. "Something just feels off right in the very back, the area that's impossible to reach without help. It makes sense really. I'm am idiot." He could feel his cheeks redden with every word and he was shocked his face hadn't burst into flames yet.

Hunters face looked surprised. "Is that all it is? Don't be so red in the face Nicholas we can fix that easily. Happens to the best of us."

"Oh believe me, if I could chose to turn this off I would," he mumbled. He ran a hand over his face, trying to get it stop burning. "Am I free now?"

"Are you going to take care of that?" Hunter gestured to Nick's cheek.

Nick twiddled his thumbs in similar style to a child, he didn't know what to say. Was he? He surly didn't want to. "I will," he stated, as if trying to convince himself. "I'll have Blaine do it or something."

"I understand you're embarrassed. If you'd like me to fix it I can."

Nick looked down at hands. He didn't want this, but at the same time it would have been just as embarrassing going to one of his friends about this. Hunter already knew, it couldn't get more embarrassing. "You don't have to, sir. I can get someone else to do it..."

"I'll give you extra credit if you let me help you. It'll be a nice break to not have to turn in an assignment or two for the week," Hunter offered.

Nick looked up at the offer. That was a hard offer to deny. "Erm... Okay, sure. As long as you don't mind doing it, I guess."

"I don't mind at all, in fact, you can meet me in the lab tomorrow at 10AM."

"Okay," Nick said tentatively. Was he missing something? This seemed like it should have been harder. "See you then. Thanks for not expelling me earlier by the way, I really appeared it," he joked. He then stood up and left.

* * *

He got home around 5PM that day. He was trying not to let the day's events get to him. He unlocked the door to find Jeff sitting on the sofa watching Lost reruns. He smiled at his adorable boyfriend. "Hey baby, how was your day?"

"Hi Nicky," he greeted. "It was good. I think I failed that one test but I'm just going to look at the bright side of things and say I'll probably still pass," he babbled, beckoning his boyfriend over to sit with him.

"Awe, I'm sorry. Anything I can do to help? I can help with science stuff," Nick offered, sitting down next to Jeff.

"Not science-y," Jeff stated. "I think I just wanna cuddle. Cuddles make the world go round."

"True, true." They laid there for a little while in comfortable silence.

"Don't you ever get tired of watching this? I'm pretty sure this is the 3rd time you've watched this show."

"Nope, Lost will never die."

"But it doesn't make any sense. There is no way that someone who's trapped on an island would have teeth that white. It's not natural. Besides, they've gotta run out of toothpaste eventually. Then what?" Nick started.

"Oh not this again. You think about this too much," Jeff complained.

"Nu uh, I'm just logical," Nick protested. "You look really cute today," he continued.

Jeff hid cutely behind his hair. "I look just like I did yesterday," he said, trying and failing to hold back a smile.

"I know, you were cute yesterday too," Nick cooed. "It makes me so happy to see you smiling, you know."

Jeff blushed now. Every time Nick talked about this he got red and uncomfortable. He buried his face in Nick's chest.

"Don't hide from me, my love. You're adorable face is adorable, I wanna see it."

Jeff looked up at Nick and crinkled his nose cutely.

"Smile for me. I wanna see, please," Nick asked sweetly.

Jeff hid in Nick's chest again. "Nu-uh."

"Please, please, please. Your smile looks so cute. The Invisalign is working nicely, you've got nothing to be embarrassed about anymore. I liked your smile just as much before but now you're more confident. Now stop being shy and let me see," he went on.

Jeff popped his head up again, cheeks still burned a cute shade of red. "You do this just so you can see me blush."

"Well, maybe that's a little trust, but I also think you're adorable. I'm trying to teach you to stop being so self conscious about something that's not worth being self conscious about. Smile for meeee."

"Make me."

"Uh oh, you shouldn't have said that," Nick countered. He clicked his tongue at Jeff and shook his head. He then switched up the position so he was sitting on top of Jeff. "Naughty boy," he continued. He then started tickling Jeff's sides.

"N-no! Niiiiicccckkkkk!" Jeff squeaked, laughing and going even more red in the face. "S-stop it! I'm-" more laughing, "gonna-" he went into another laughing fit, "fuck you upppp! Nick! Stop it!" Jeff chocked out.

Nick grinned in amusement at Jeff's distress. "See, that's why you don't challenge your boyfriend. I always win," he whispered in Jeff's ear when he stopped tickling him. "See, there's that smile I oh so adore."

"I hate you," Jeff said, trying to catch his breath.

"Awe, you're so sweet. I love you too." Nick leaned over and pecked Jeff on the lips teasingly. "Still hate me?"

Jeff wiggled out from under Nick and sat on top of him. "I don't know," he said thoughtfully. He put Nick's face in his hands and started kissing him. "I'm reconsidering," he said in between kisses.

* * *

The next day at 9:58AM Nick found himself walking into lab to meet Hunter. Despite trying to convince himself that he wasn't nervous, he did feel his stomach make a feeling of protest as he stepped in the door. Was this a bad decision? Maybe he should have asked Blaine instead.

Hunter was waiting for his student in lab number 4 as he watched Nick walk in to join him. "Hello Nick, you can leave your bag here and follow me, we're going to observation room 5 today."

"Oh, you're here already. Hi," he greeted, trying and probably failing to sound genuine. He set down his bag. "Why the observation room?" he asked tentatively, following Hunter.

"Today will be a learning experience for the second years. They're not ready for clinic yet but they will be watching today."

Nick felt himself get pale and grow a little dizzy. "Oh god, I knew this wasn't going to be that easy," Nick said in a near whisper. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, trying not to get worked up. 'Be an adult, don't freak out. Don't freak out,' he told himself. "I-I don't think that this is a good idea."

Hunter noticed Nick tensing up as they walked. "What's wrong Nick, this is a good learning experience for these students and you're receiving credit for showing them the work. If it's about embarrassment let me assure you, you'll never see them again. You're a fourth year and they're not entering the clinics until you graduate anyway."

Nick ran a hand through his hair, trying not to freak out. "Sure, I'm all for the learning experience and extra credit but-" he swallowed hard, "being at the receiving end of it? Oh god, are you..." he wasn't even sure what he was trying to ask so he let the sentence die on his lips. "This is going to be embarrassing even if I never see them again," he mumbled. He silently wondered if Hunter was enjoying this, probably.

Hunter furrowed his brow as they turned a corner and looked to his student. "What were you going to ask Nick?" He noticed Nick looked pretty stressed out.

"I was going to ask if you really thought this was a good idea, but of course you do. You aren't going to be that one at the receiving end of it..." he wasn't sure if being this honest was a good idea given he was talking to his professor. "Not that I don't trust you, I'm just... Unsure about this."

"Well I just figured being a dental student yourself you would be less concerned with your treatment if a licensed Doctor did it instead."

The words weren't coming out right. He was freaking out and he couldn't express why and it was frustrating. "I trust you, I'm not concerned with you messing. That's not what I mean," he tried to explain. He could feel himself getting lightheaded, this really wasn't good.

"Hey there, woah, take it easy. Just breath, let's stop for a minute and calm down. Why don't you sit here for a second while I go prep." Hunter gave Nick a folding chair in the hall and told him to put his head between his knees.

"I'm sorry. I'm not going to faint, I swear. I'm okay." He wasn't sure how true that was so he did what he was told. He unfolded the chair and put his head between his knees. 'I'm basically kissing my ass goodbye,' he thought to himself.

Hunter prepped the room for the procedure and walked back to where Nick was. "Hey, I was thinking that since you are worried about embarrassment that it could be a good idea to change out of your scrubs. That way the second years won't know that you're student,' Hunter suggested.

Nick raised his head back up, now more confident that he wasn't going to faint, and gave Hunter his attention. "I think that's a good idea. I have a change of clothes in my bag. I'll go change and meet you in there. Is that okay?"

Hunter nodded dismissively, "that's fine."

After a quick change of clothes Nick walked into the observation room, now no longer looking like a dental student. Now he was just another patient, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Even if nobody knew who he was, he felt that this would be embarrassing. These type of situations always were. "So I guess I get to be at the receiving end of doctor mode, huh? I hope you know what you're doing," he joked.

Hunter just gave his student a curt look and pursed his lips. "Yes Mr. Duval, please take a seat." He turned to the small class of students and began speaking. "Everyone find your seats you'll be able to see what I'm doing from the screens. I'll be using an inter oral camera."

Nick felt his chest tighten, but sat down anyway. This most definitely wasn't going to be as fun for him as it would be for the students watching. He could already feeling himself start to go red in the face. He didn't say anything, just sat there nervously awaiting his doom.

"How are you doing Nick?" Hunter whispered as he put a bib on his student and adjusted the chair while the others sat down.

"I mean I'm sill alive so I guess that's something," he mumbled. He started to squirm when the chair was adjusted and could feel his heart beating loudly. He didn't like it, wanted to sit up because he felt like he couldn't breathe. He tried to stay calm but he wasn't sure how well it was working. He just wanted to get this over with but he was having trouble breathing.

Hunter noticed the distress his student was exhibiting and leaned closer to him as he scrubbed in. "Nick, if you aren't okay you need to tell me so I can help. What would make this easier for you? Do you want me to page Mr. Anderson and have him join us to assist and comfort?"

"No, no. It's okay. I'll be okay, I'm just overthinking this. Don't page Blaine," he reassured, trying his best to just power through this without making a fool of himself. "I'm fine, really. Just do your thing. I might be a little tense but I'm not going to freak out," he continued, trying to say so with confidence, as if he was trying to convince himself too. "I'm fine," he said once more, trying to ignore all of the wondering eyes of the second years.

Hunter didn't look convinced but he continued with his preparations as he spoke to the students. "So today the patient is experiencing discomfort in a rear molar. It's a cavity on the distal surface and X-rays have already been taken. The first thing we must do is examine the tooth again and determine the treatment." Hunter picked his tools up and looked at Nick expectantly.

Nick tried to tune out the sound of Hunter talking to the students, silently wishing he didn't understand what he was saying. He opted to just focus on his breathing. He saw Hunter pick up the tools and let his mouth fall open, not wanting to be difficult and cause trouble. This was already borderline humiliating.

Hunter picked up the camera and turned on the screens for his class to see. "So using the camera we can see the cavity in question. It doesn't appear to be very deep in progression and we have confirmed this with the X-rays. A simple filling will need to be done. The first step in the process would be to numb the patient. For this we will use a topical Lidocaine followed by an injected dose of Septicane."

Nick could feel Hunter messing around in his mouth and tried really hard not to think about it. He looked up at the ceiling, not wanting to close his eyes but also trusting Hunter enough to not watch his every move. It was reliving to know the cavity wasn't deep, but really he didn't expect it would be. He laid there and was cooperative, realizing now that he felt calm for the most part. When Hunter took the tools out of his mouth momentarily Nick spoke. "Is it possible that I watch you do it?" he asked sheepishly. "Not the part with the needle though, I think it's better I don't watch that."

Hunter nodded in affirmation and pulled up a smaller screen to connect to the server. He turned it on for Nick to see the camera as well. "Okay, we're going to start now. I suggest you look away for this part Nicholas and I'll tell you when we're ready." Hunter picked up the Q-tip and placed it in Nick's mouth for a moment. Explaining what he did as he went.

The topical Lidocaine felt tingly and tasted really bad. He had to make an effort to not gag at the offensive taste. It appeared to be working fast though as he could feel the area starting to lose feeling. "I won't, you can happily stick me with needles without my lurking eyes. They don't wanna see."

Hunter smirked and pulled up his mask as he picked up the syringe and used the camera to pull back Nick's cheek. "Locate the nerve you will be blocking, and pull out after insertion to make sure you are not near any blood vessels, once you're in the clear you must inject slowly making sure to not tear the tissue, that will cause pain," Hunter spoke clinically as he injected Nick.

Nick opted to close his eyes during this part, needles weren't fun. He heard Hunter explaining what he was doing but tried to tune it out. At first he couldn't feel it, but then there was a moment where he could feel a sting. It was dull and couldn't quite be described as painful. It felt uncomfortable, but then he couldn't feel it anymore and physically relaxed, that was the worst part.

Hunter set down the syringe and gave Nick a cup to rinse his mouth with. "Now I'll open the floor to any questions so far as we wait for Mr. Duval to be completely numb for the procedure." Hunter spoke in an inviting manor and gave a side glance to Nick.

Nick closed his mouth when Hunter was done and rinsed out the gross taste of the topical Lidocaine. It was already starting to work if the awkward feeling in his tongue was any indication. He then sat back down while the medicine did its thing.

"Professor Clarington, is there a reason you used Septicane as apposed to Lidocaine? Does it have to do with location or preference?" a female student closer towards the back asked.

"It will be more common for you to use Septocaine in the clinic as it is longer lasting and uses less if any epinephrine in its dosage. Meaning if you accidentally were to inject it directly into the blood stream it would not cause your patient to pass out from a head rush."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, professor," the girl countered. Nick smiled to himself when something popped into his head. "So you don't use Novocaine anymore?" he asked Hunter innocently.

Hunter looked down in mock shock at his student in disguise. "No Mr. Duval, we haven't used Novocaine in many year as it would wear off too quickly. You would be in pain mid procedure."

"Oh, interesting," Nick commented. He had to make an effort not to laugh at himself even though nobody else, especially Hunter, found the question amusing. That seemed to spark a question in another student. "How do you know when it's safe to start the procedure?" another student asked, receiving a tired look from a student nearby. It was a silent 'How did you even make it this far?'.

"Hunter rolled his eyes so only Nick could see and turned back to the class with a serious expression on his face. "You start drilling and if the patient screams then you know you weren't supposed to start yet." He winked at Nick and continued. "No, for Mr. Duval's sake and all of your patients you must first check to make sure they're numb by checking for feeling in the tissue."

Nick almost laughed at the look Hunter threw his way. Though, he couldn't hold back the snigger that escaped at Hunter's actual response to the question. Situations like this was why Hunter was one of his favorite professors. He wasn't full of fake smiles or any of that other nonsense. He was a bit of a hard-ass, yes, but he was a genuine person. "I'd rather not be at the receiving end of that, so please do check," Nick spoke. "Pain is painful."

"As you can see class humor does help ease the patients nerves very well." Hunter smiled and picked up his explorer. "Okay Nick, can you open so I may spare you the pain of the other method." He winked from under his mask and checked to see if Nick could feel anything.

"Pfftt, what nerves? I've been as cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce the whole time," Nick mused. He opened his mouth at the request and felt Hunter messing around with his tooth. He could hear it, but he didn't feel any pain. He gave Hunter and thumbs up in response.

"Excellent. so we will begin. Bear with me, it may be slower than normal as this is a learning experience. So class, as I mentioned, it's on the distal surface. What class of restoration would this be considered?" As he spoke he stuck a cotton roll in nicks cheek to prepare.

Nick was tempted to say, 'ooh, ooh, I know,' sarcastically, but that would have blown his cover. Also Hunter stuck a cotton ball in his mouth so he couldn't talk now. The same girl who gave the annoyed look to the guy with the dumb question earlier answered now. "Wouldn't that be a class 2 restoration?"

"Correct young lady, this is a class two restoration and is fairly simple in execution. Now I have properly prepared the area by keeping it clear from infection by? Anyone? I have place a cotton roll here to keep saliva from coming in contact with my perfect restoration as you will now witness. Nicholas, if you will be so kind as to open your mouth we will begin. I have the camera ready for you to view as well."

Nick silently wished he wasn't on the receiving end of this, but opened his mouth wider anyway and gave Hunter access. He was trying not to focus so much on the fact that this was happening to him, and more so on how it was happening. He was hoping that watching this wouldn't freak him out, but figured it would be interesting "Are you sure that's a good idea? What if it scares him, professor? He seemed kind of freaked out earlier," that same dumb-shit from earlier that had the dumb question asked.

"Just as sure as I am that I don't have to have you in this observation room. First rule of dental school son, never question your professor."

"I was just making sure professor, no disrespect. I just don't think it's a good idea," the guy, Ricky, responded is a tone that held no respect for his teacher. A few students glared at him. He started to speak again. "I thought that asking questions was encouraged, besides-" he was cut off by the girl from earlier who had been giving him dirty looks. She looked at Hunter pleadingly. "Please professor, he's lowering the IQ of the entire room by speaking out loud."

"Young man, get out of my classroom. You _are_ disrespecting me and don't be surprised next year in clinic when you have a rough time from me."

Ricky frowned when Hunter told him to get out, and looked like he was going to say something else, but backed down at the look on Hunter's face and walked out. Nick on the other was trying, and failing, to keep from laughing. He successfully laughed out his cotton roll and was now red in the face again. That kid was so stupid for trying to press Hunter's buttons.

Hunter shook his head tiredly and turned back to Nick. "So back to business." He spoke lower so only Nick could hear the next part. "Shall we tell them who you really are now or do you still wish to be an anonymous face?"

Nick grinned a lopsided grin at Hunter. "You can tell them, I don't care anymore. I have no shame."

"Very well, everyone, Nicholas here is actually a fourth year dental student who was gracious enough to let me use him for this observation. Now if he wants to watch what I'm doing he not only has that right but he probably should. It's educational and it will help him feel distanced from the procedure." Hunter sat down again and pulled his mask up. He picked up another cotton roll and held it above Nick. "Try to keep this one in your mouth please Mr. Duval," Hunter smirked.

Nick waved sarcastically at the second years. "Yes yes, I'm undercover. Life tip: no matter how good you think you are at your own cleanings, you aren't. Bad idea," he addressed the group. He then looked back to Hunter sheepishly. "Sorry, yeah, I'll keep this one in," he said, opening his mouth back up.

Hunter nodded his head quickly and picked up the hand piece after his patient was situated again. "So let's begin, first I will clean out the decay." Hunter turned on the hand-piece and using the camera showed his students the proper technique for removing the cavity.

Nick let Hunter do this thing, making himself relax and not think about it too much. He tried to focus on the screen he was looking at, but truth be told that made it even more weird. It was strange having someone drill into your face, and it was even stranger to watch it. It was unnerving to say that least, but once he got over the initial unease of it all it was kind of cool.

"You alright Nicholas?" Hunter grabbed a few more things once he was drilling and mixed the composite solution.

Nick wasn't even going to try to answer Hunter's with actual words because he, A) didn't want to mess up the restoration or, B) make himself look like an idiot. So he just gave him a thumbs up.

"Good good, now I'm mixing the composite material. Who can explain to me the advantages of composite fillings? And please don't say they look prettier, I want scientific answers people."

"Composite material requires the lose of less healthy tooth structure. Also it doesn't have mercury, which in theory doesn't matter that much because the amount of mercury in amalgam isn't harmful, but it freaks people out. Well, some people are actually allergic and there are a few studies that show it could be harmful but it isn't set in stone as of yet. Also they tarnish. Though, most people prefer this option because it looks pretty," a student spoke up and answered.

"Yes, I'll accept the factual part of that answer. So the downsides would be, they don't last as long as amalgam and they tend to shrink 1-2% when dried." Hunter used some other tools to fill the hole he'd made and picked up the UV light to dry the filling.

"Porcelain inlay is the best option, but it takes more time to make and is kind of unnecessary unless the restoration is larger," another student added, receiving an approving nod from Hunter. Nick laid there, wanting to add his input to the debate but enabled of doing so as of yet. He watched as Hunter did the filling and couldn't help but admire his handy work.

"Also professor, if you want to be technical, my entire answer was factual. I said that people _prefer_ composite material because it looks pretty, which is fact. Not that composite material _is_ pretty, which would have been an opinion," she said, not in disrespectful manner, but matter-of-factly.

Hunter didn't acknowledged what the girl said out loud, just gave her a head-nod that said 'you got me'. He then drew his attention back to Nick, noticing he had a glint in his eye and knew he was itching to tell the second years all he had learned. "We're almost done here." He finished drying the various layers and polished over the filling to smooth it. "There you are Nick, rinse out your mouth and make any comment you'd like for the students." Hunter removed the cotton ball from his patient and sat him up.

Nick watched as Hunter finished up the filling and it looked very nice. "It looks very nice, it's like you're a pro at this or something," he smirked, rinsing his mouth out and getting up. "A word of advice to all of you guys. I've already said this, but I'll say it again. Don't do your own cleanings, it's a bad idea. You'll never be that good. Another thing, don't piss off Hunter. That's also a very bad idea, and if you do it you might not live to tell the tale," he joked. "But in all honestly, the best advice I can give you all is to never be afraid to ask for help. These guys are here to help even if they're hard on you sometimes." He ended with a kind smile towards Hunter. "Thanks for fixing my face, I appreciate it. My face also thanks you." He turned back toward the group. "I hope you guys took some knowledge away from my mistake. Also, if anyone asks, this never happened." The second years collectively grinned or laughed at Nick, or had an amused expression on their face. Hunter gave Nick one of his signature head-nods. "Bye all,' and at that Nick walked out.

Nick opted to go home after that. He didn't have any important lectures that morning and he didn't have a patient until 2:30PM. It was nearly noon now. He walked in with take-out Chinese food in hand. "Jeffy? You home? I brought food,' he called as he walked in.

"Hold on, I'm naked,' Jeff called from the bathroom. He walked out in a pair of skinny jeans and wet hair.

"Awe, but I like naked Jeff,' Nick whined, setting down the food.

Jeff smiled at his adorable boyfriend, pulling on a navy V-neck. "I've got class in an hour, no sexytime for you. I'll accept the food though, why are you home anyway?"

"Awe, that's enough time,' Nick whined. "I don't have a patient for another few hours so I thought I'd bring you lunch."

"I see,' Jeff spoke.

"I brought you food, does that at least earn me a kiss?" Nick asked sweetly.

Jeff pretended to think about it for a second. "Hm... I guess," he teased. He walked over to Nick and wrapped his arms around him before plating a kiss on his lips. Nick deepened the kiss though and Jeff didn't pull away. After a few seconds Jeff pulled away. "What's wrong with your face?" he asked, holding Nick at arm's length.

Nick's face blanched, forgetting that his face was still numb until just now. "Nothing is wrong with my face," Nick defended.

"Half of it isn't moving," Jeff stated, now poking at Nick's face.

Nick pulled away. "Jeff, please stop poking at my face," he said comically.

"Why is your face numb? Did you have a cavity? Oooh, Nick! You had a cavity didn't you?" Jeff concluded excitedly as if that idea was amusing.

Nick's face turned red. "Okay, yes, but it was tiny and basically didn't count," he defended.

Jeff giggled. "Mr. Perfect isn't so perfect now, huh? Were you scared? Did it hurt? Can I see?'

Nick rolled his eyes at the questions. "No, I wasn't scared. Of course it didn't hurt; and no you can't see. I've had enough people in my mouth today, thank you. Gosh, you're so weird. Why would you want to see anyway?'

Jeff turned red now. "I don't know. It was a joke. I don't wanna look in your mouth, it's gross."

Now Nick laughed. "Well, you don't think my mouth is gross when you kiss it or when I'm-" Jeff cut him off.

"Don't finish that sentence," Jeff warned, pointing a finger at Nick.

"I think you're interested. Come on, admit it. You're a little bit interested in what I do," Nick teased his blushing boyfriend.

"No I'm not, shut up cavity face."

"Heeeyyy," Nick called. "It's not a cavity anymore. It's a filling."

"Fine, shut up filling face."

"You have them too."

"Nu-uh," Jeff mumbled, now on the other side of the room opening his box of Chinese food.

"Mmhmm," Nick hummed. "You're right honey. It's not like I've personally done any or anything like that."

Jeff threw a piece of chicken at Nick, and Nick moved away only moment's before it hit his face. "That was a waste of perfectly good chicken!"

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, that's where I'm going to end it. Please review and tell me what you thought. I may or may not be bitter about the lack of reviews I got on the latest chapter of NJAP, so I'm stepping away from that story for a while. Seriously, I poured my heart into that chapter, it was the longest one I've ever written (besides this one) and I got 1 review. I know a handful of people that read it and didn't review, and that upsets me a bit to say the least. Whatever, I won't get into that. I hate begging for reviews, but I really appreciate it when you guys take the time to tell me what you thought. Even if you're a guest, please don't be shy. Anyway, that's it. Bye all :)**

 **Ps. It's almost 4AM and I'm not going to proofread this like I should because I'm tired.**


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